Fried Rice And Other Recipes For Survival

By Jalapeno Gal77 Via APN

I often think of the ways I can use my food storage to make different meals.  After years of research it seems that white rice is among many suggested items to keep in your survival stash because it has a shelf life of about 30 years if packaged correctly.  (#10 can or Mylar bag in a bucket with oxygen absorbers.)  Brown Rice has a shelf life of usually 2 – 3 years.  It only takes some water to boil up white rice and eat it, but I personally don’t like bland food so I started finding different ways to cook it.

At the grocery store you can buy and store the boxes of flavored rice such as Rice-A-Roni, but what you pay for that you can get a large bag of white rice and make many delicious meals out of it with just a little imagination.

Here are some of my favorite ways to cook and eat white rice.  Since my articles are focused primarily around survival and self-sufficiency, I will be referring mostly to storage items, but all of these ideas can be used with every day ingredients too.

Breakfast or Dessert:  After cooking white rice, we add a little butter, cinnamon, and sugar to taste.

Chicken:  If you store chicken stock or bouillon, prepare your rice with that instead of water.  Once it is tender, open a can or jar of chicken and add it with some dehydrated vegetables of your choice.  We like to use peas

Beef:  As with chicken, instead of cooking with plain water use beef broth or bouillon.  When rice is tender, add some cooked beef tips and brown gravy.

Broccoli and Cheese:  Here at our house, we buy the broccoli and cheese steam bags and mix the rice in the bag once the vegetables are cooked, making an excellent side dish.  An alternative, would be to use your dehydrated Broccoli Florets and stored cheese sauce.  To make a meal out of it, you could add a can of diced chicken and some dehydrated onions.  (Six #10 cans of dehydrated broccoli florets)

Green Bell Peppers and Rice:  If you really enjoy a big stuffed bell pepper, then you might enjoy this alternative.  Add one cup of freeze-dried ground beef, a can of tomato sauce, a can of diced and drained tomatoes, a cup of yellow or white freeze-dried onions,  one cup freeze-dried green bell pepper,  to a skillet of cooked white rice.  (You can add or take away any of the ingredients to your taste.)  As the rice is cooking, sauté the bell peppers and onions in a tablespoon of butter or oil.  If I am cooking for the entire family, I will add one more cup of ground beef and peppers.  If you don’t want to use Ground beef, you can always add beef tips and cream of mushroom soup.

A Little Bit of Spice:  I love Mexican food and anything spicy, so in our home you will find this dish cooked up a lot.  Make up some white rice and add it to a skillet with sautéed dehydrate bell peppers, onions, a can of green chilies and some jalapeño’s (optional).   Then add some enchilada sauce according to your own taste.

Spinach, Mushrooms and Garlic:  For this you can use dried spinach or canned that is drained well.  Dried mushrooms or drained canned mushrooms and sautéed minced garlic.  Stir ingredients into cooked white rice.

Last but not least, our beloved fried rice!!  This is a basic recipe for fried rice.  You can add anything you want to it such as freeze-dried or canned peas, carrots, etc.  If you do add more things to it, use 3 eggs instead of 2.

Ingredients:

• 1-2 dehydrated green onions/or regular, chopped.  Vary amount to taste.
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon salt
• Pepper to taste
• 4 tablespoons oil, or as needed for stir frying the rice
• 4 cups cold, cooked rice (a few days old is best)
• 1-2 tablespoons soy sauce or as desired

Directions:

• Wash and finely chop the green onion.
• Lightly beat the egg with the salt and pepper.
• Heat a wok or frying pan and two tablespoons oil.  Fry the eggs until they are cooked but not too dry.  Remove them and clean out your pan.
• Add two tablespoons of oil and stir in rice, breaking the rice apart.  Cook until warm to hot, and then add soy sauce, eggs, and green onions.
• If you’re adding any other ingredients, do so at this time.
• Cook until hot, and serve.

There are many different ways to cook and enjoy rice, and these are just a few of my families favorites.  Use your imagination to come up with your own recipes using foods you love and please share them with us all in the comments section below.  Remember to have fun and cook with love!!

Keepin It Spicy,
Jalapeño Gal